Red Magic
by Dolphingirl32173
Summary: When Vaan agrees to allow a mysterious young girl to practice 'red magic' on him, he has no idea until it's too late that she was actually practicing ancient love magic. Full summary inside. Balthier/Vaan
1. Prologue

Red Magic  
DG32173

Sarah: random idea that popped into my head and made me laugh. Hope you readers get a kick out of it too.

_**DISCLAIMER**_  
If I owned Final Fantasy XII copyrights, do you _honestly_ think I would be making a fanfic about it? Didn't think so.

_**!WARNINGS!**_  
M-rated for slash pairing, sex, cursing, nudity, etc. Don't read if you don't like.

_**SUMMARY**_  
When Vaan agrees to allow a mysterious young girl to practice 'red magic' on him, he has no idea until it's too late that she was actually practicing ancient love magic. Now Vaan must find a way to undo the spell while fending off Balthier's many attempts to get him alone and in bed. _**Balthier/Vaan**_

_**KEY  
**_**(Authors note)  
**"Talking"  
'Thinking'  
Scene change  
**POV change**  
_Memory/dreams__  
Scene change in memory_

_**TRANSLATIONS**_  
Amor Vincit Omnia: love conquers all _Latin_

* * *

Prologue

"Hey, you're Vaan, right?" a young girl's voice asks from beside the desert thief.

Vaan looks down to see a pretty blonde girl of about ten with bright green eyes. "Yeah, what's up?" he asks.

"Um, I was told that you might be willing to help me practice this new spell I just learned," the girl replies. "My name is Affi."

"What sort of magic?" Vaan asks, curious.

"Red magic," Affi replies. "The spell is called Amor Vincit Omnia."

"Never heard of it. Will it hurt?"

"No, it shouldn't. But the book I found it in says that it will take effect when the person it's cast on hears their name called the three times by one person after it's cast and it will effect the person who calls to them. The book says the effects will be slow at first but will steadily grow stronger."

Vaan is very curious about this. "Let's try it, Affi," he says, despite a strong feeling that the girl is leaving something major out.

After the girl casts the spell, she giggles. "Well, thanks for letting me practice my magic," she says.

"By the way, Affi, what sort of magic _is_ red magic?" Vaan asks as she walks away.

The girl turns back towards him with a grin. "Love magic," she laughs, running off before her words can sink in.

"Oh gods, no," Vaan gasps when he realizes what he had just signed up for.

"Vaan?" he hears a familiar masculine voice call.

'No, not him!' Vaan thinks in horror as Balthier turns the corner to see him standing there.

"Vaan, what's the matter? You look a little pale," Balthier notes.

"It's nothing, I'm fine," Vaan says quickly. "What was it you wanted, Balthier?"

"I've been searching all over for you. The _Strahl_ is repaired and we're ready to leave," Balthier replies. "Are you sure you're alright, Vaan?" he asks, not realizing that he caused a love spell to fall upon him with the sentence.

Vaan nods, resigning to figuring out how to explain this mess to Balthier before things get too out of control.

* * *

Sarah: I know, short prologue. But it was funny. I can't wait to see how this turns out.


	2. You Did WHAT?

Red Magic  
DG32173

Sarah: chapter one is here for those who are still interested. Both my dad and my niece thought of blood magic when I mentioned red magic to them, so I'll have that be what Vaan have thought of first.

_**DISCLAIMER**_  
If I owned Final Fantasy XII, I wouldn't be writing _fan_fics, now would I?

_**KEY  
**_**(Authors note)  
**"Talking"  
'Thinking'  
Scene change  
**POV change**  
_Memory/dreams__  
Scene change in memory_

* * *

Chapter 1  
You Did WHAT?

Balthier stares at Vaan in a mixture of shock and horror. He couldn't have been hearing right. Vaan is blushing crimson while Balthier is stunned into silence.

Around them, the other members of the team are laughing so hard that they can't say any words around the laughter. Trust Vaan to wind up in a situation like _this!_

Finally, Balthier finds his voice. "You did _what?"_ he yelps, his usual calm demeanor forgotten at the revelation of the mess Vaan had landed the two of them into.

"I didn't mean to! I mean, I didn't think little kids would go about casting that sort of magic on people they don't even know! How was I supposed to know that she'd do something like that!" Vaan replies, panicked.

"Do you remember the name of the _spell?"_ Balthier demands hotly. "We can most likely find a reversal to it if we know the name."

"Um, she called it 'Amor Vincit Omnia'," Vaan says.

"Red magic," Balthier groans. "How could you _not_ hove realized it was love magic?" he snaps at Vaan.

"I thought of blood magic when she said red magic," Vaan defends himself.

Balthier pulls down an old tome of magic from one of the shelves and starts flipping through it. "There better be a way to reverse that damn spell or you're in for it," he mutters. Vaan grabs another magical tome and begins reading from it.

Hours of search later, all that the two could find out about red magic was that it was an ancient love magic that is seldom used in modern times, that its spells are far more complex and harder to master than any modern magic. And most of the spells are irreversible except by the caster. In other words: they are in for a big mess with no way out.

Upon realizing this, Balthier spends an hour chasing Vaan around Rabanastre and Lowtown in attempts to strangle the idiot who got them into this fiasco. Unfortunately for Balthier, Vaan knows his home turf far better than the sky pirate and eventually finds a place to stay hidden until said sky pirate cools down. After a few hours for Balthier to cool off, Penelo, who also knows the city better than any of the others, is sent out to locate the missing thief so they can take off for their next destination.

* * *

Sarah: that's it for chapter one. Yes, I know. Very short, but it is purely about what has occurred in it. The rest of the chapters will be much longer. Hopefully.


	3. Feelings

Red Magic  
DG32173

Sarah: chapter 2 is here. I hope those of you who are still reading have enjoyed it so far, despite the shortness of the last two chapters. I own what I write, nothing more. This is a bonus chapter to make up for the shortness of the past two chapters.

_**KEY  
**_**(Authors note)  
**"Talking"  
'Thinking'  
Scene change  
**POV change**  
_Memory/dreams__  
Scene change in memory_

* * *

Chapter 2  
Feelings

After a week of searching for any reference of the particular spell that Vaan had allowed to be cast on him, Balthier can't seem to keep the thief out of his mind, and his thoughts aren't in the least bit what he wished they were. He finds himself constantly wishing to get the thief alone and in a bed. Not something he should be thinking.

All the references they can find on red magic say that the spells start working slowly but pick up in intensity over time. If it's this bad after just a week, Balthier _really_ wants to get this reversed before a month has passed!

Balthier also constantly finds himself watching the boy for no apparent reason, his eyes tracing every contour of Vaan's body and watching every move the boy makes. At night, he has to fight with every bit of willpower he has to keep from going into Vaan's room to watch him sleep, or worse.

Meanwhile, Vaan finds himself casting frequent glances at Balthier when he senses that the other is not looking his way. There is no way about it. The sky pirate is definitely _sexy._ And whenever Vaan finds himself thinking that, he quickly turns his mind to other activities, like finding a way to undo this stupid spell. He has a feeling that Affi had purposely not mentioned that he would be effected by the spell some as well.

Vaan often curses himself for such a rash agreement to this mess. If he had asked what kind of magic it was _before_ agreeing to let her cast the spell, he and Balthier wouldn't be in this mess. Of course, a part of him seems to resent that sort of thinking, but he has a feeling _that_ part of him is under control of the spell.

Lying in his bed on the Strahl that night, hundreds of miles from Rabanastre where he last saw her, suddenly Vaan shoots to a sitting position when he hears a childish giggle from the foot of his bed. There, standing at the foot of his bed with a soft glow around her, was Affi. "Still don't get it, do ya?" she asks, perching on the foot of his bed.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he demands. Then he brightens slightly. "Hey, you can take the spell off, right?"

She chuckles. "Unfortunately for, not even _I_ can reverse _that_ particular spell," she says. "Amor Vincit Omnia. Love Conquers All. In actuality, it _doesn't_ activate on the _first_ person who says the name of the target three times. It activates on the third time the target's _soul mate_ calls their name."

Vaan pales. "You must be lying!" he cries out. Then he notes again that the girl is glowing. "Why the hell are you _glowing?"_

Affi chuckles. "Nope, you obviously haven't figured it out yet," she says. "My name's not 'Affi'," she tells him.

"Who _are_ you then?" Vaan demands.

She smirks. "Aphrodite, Goddess of Love, at your service, Vaan Ratsbane," she replies, bowing mockingly "A crying shame you chose that over your birth name. Ratsbane! Such a barbaric name!" she scoffs.

"Goddess?" Vaan gasps in disbelief, glancing towards the doors.

Aphrodite grins. "As a goddess, I can keep them asleep no matter how much racket you kick up," she replies. "You won't have anyone come see you 'til morning, boy."

"Why did you choose me? And why the one spell you _can't_ reverse?" he demands.

She shakes her head. "Vaan, Vaan, Vaan. I chose you because I enjoy playing with Fire type humans. The _passion_ of a Fire personality is something I always enjoyed kicking up. Particularly _love_ passion."

"I'm a Fire type?"

"You are more than just _a_ Fire type! You are the epiphany of what Fire type personalities are like, dear boy." The goddess replies, excitement lighting her green eyes. "The purest Fire type. Most other Fire types don't take well to pure Water types, like your dear Balthier," she replies. "The Water douses the incomplete flame or the flame burns the water and turns it to mist. Now _you_ go along nicely with a pure Water type. You _balance_ the Water."

"Balthier's a _Water_ type?" Vaan chokes out.

"Of course. That's why I chose the two of you to keep an eye on. Water types are rather resistant to simply following their emotions, though. That's why I had to step in to lend a hand with that nifty little spell. Water types are so ridiculously _mellow!_ You Fire type bring _passion_ into their lives. Water types usually hate that and leave the Fire type at first chance, but your Balthier stuck around. That's when I knew."

"You mean you didn't know before?" Vaan asks. "But you're the goddess of _love!"_

Aphrodite rolls her eyes. "Yes, well, _love_ has many forms. The love shared between siblings, like your love for Penelo and hers for you. Then there's the love shared between friends, like you and Lady Ashe. And finally there's the romantic love. _That's_ the love I govern! You and Balthier were more like friends at the beginning, but I kept an eye on you, hoping. When he decided to let you tempt him into helping you rescue Penelo, _that's_ when I knew the potential for more was there. But being a Water type, he doesn't let himself be swayed by his emotions often," she explains. "When you didn't recognize his attempts at flirting…"

"He was _flirting_ with me?" Vaan yelps.

"Of course," Aphrodite responds. "When you didn't recognize his attempts at flirting with you, he decided you were too innocent and shoved his emotions aside. That's when I knew I had to step in to get you two to realize your love for each other. Well, now. We've talked enough. Time for you to sleep, young man. And you won't remember this when you wake up."

"But I'm not …," he starts as Aphrodite lays a hand on his leg. Before he can finish, he's fast asleep.

The goddess chuckles and leaves. 'This will be the most entertainment I've had in centuries,' she thinks.

* * *

Sarah: that's it for chapter two! I hope you enjoyed the nice little twist in plot. It just struck me as I was staring at the first five paragraphs, fretting over what I should write to make the chapter longer. Then it was like "WHAM!" and the idea hit me to include "Affi" and show who she _really_ was! Shame that Vaan won't remember any of this when he wakes up!


End file.
